Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said he’s looking at the positives when it comes to his team, which tends to have the losses magnified.

“The story for my team is the fact that we are competing and we are doing a good job, in fact, a terrific job, and we have continued to win at a very high level without Ryan (Kelly, an injured senior forward),” he said. “The story isn’t what we lost. The story is how much we’ve won.”

Duke is in second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference, trailing Miami by three games in the loss column. The Blue Devils can’t afford another loss if their March 2 matchup with Miami is going to have much of bearing on the conference race.

Tonight’s opponent for Duke is last-place Virginia Tech, which has lost eight games in a row.

Duke is coming off Saturday night’s loss at Maryland, a result that knocked Duke down in the polls after 13 consecutive weeks in the Top 5.

“It’s not about what we have lost,” said Krzyzewski, who’s aiming for his 950th career victory tonight. “It’s about what we have won.”

The Blue Devils have had a bit of a lull in the schedule after capping a stretch of four games in 10 days with the outing at Maryland. Krzyzewski said that took a toll on his team, not to mention much-anticipated games against North Carolina State and North Carolina.

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech’s Erick Green leads the country in scoring with 25.3 points per game.

Krzyzewski said Green is remarkable in finding ways to score in various fashions.

“They do a great job of putting him in a position where he has the ball and can score,” Krzyzewski said. “They position him in different parts of the court, very well conceived.”

Duke’s top player has been Mason Plumlee, but he struggled in the Maryland game. Krzyzewski said he expects him to recover.

“He has just had a great year, and sometimes those things happen, like Saturday,” Krzyzewski said. “Maryland had something to do with it (because) they played really well. You could tell, Mason just wasn’t at his best. That proved to be something that we could not overcome and get a victory.”

Virginia Tech coach James Johnson, a former assistant coach at Elon University, said his team must be sharp and ready to adjust to Duke’s defensive pressure.

“Try to get certain guys the ball in the right area,” Johnson said. “They’re going to pressure us and take us out of our offense.”

The Hokies took N.C. State into overtime Saturday before losing in Raleigh.

“Saw some bright spots out of it,” Johnson said, “but again, was not able to finish the game off.”

Tip-off

Who: No. 6 Duke (22-3, 9-3) at Virginia Tech (11-14, 2-10)

When: 9 tonight (ESPN2)

Where: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Va.

Series: Duke leads 40-8, including victories in the last four meetings